Goodbye
by letitbeme
Summary: Craig deals with the death of a parental figure. my first story, so be nice please!


Goodbyes were said, tears were wept, a prayer or two were recited & people left the cemetery going back to eat at the church.

There was quite a turnout for the funeral, Craig noticed, the usual suspects; Snake, Spike, Caitlin, Joey's parents, his mother looking after Angie, even old Mr. Raditch.

There were also some people Craig had never met, some old high school friends Craig had only heard about in stories: a guy with glasses who Snake called Wheels, A girl named Lucy who he remembered from Snake & Spike's wedding, a larger guy named Dwayne, a pair of twins named Heather & Erica, & many others.

Craig couldn't eat, he went outside & sat down by a large fountain in the church's yard & just stared off into space. After a while, he saw someone walking towards him, it was Ashley, she was nice enough to show up for Joey's funeral, even though she never really talked to him & she & Craig hadn't spoken in years.

Ashley sat down next to Craig & just gave a solemn: "Hey."

Craig responded back with a similar: "Hey."

The resulting pause was awkward to say the least, so Ashley decided to break it.

"So, how's it gonna work now, I mean, with you & Angela, & that sort of thing?"

"Well, I'm of age now where I can be Angie's legal guardian, but I need to prove I can make a suitable home for her,...Joey left me the car lot so that can be a good source of income, but, I guess I need to get my act together to prove to the social workers that I can be a good guardian for her."

Craig seemed somewhat confident about it, But, Ashley could still see some uneasiness in his face.

"I'm sorry this happened, Craig."

"Thanks,...I am, too,...I wish I didn't say what I said."

"What, Craig?"

"The last night...Joey was alive, we fought, god only knows what about now, but, before I stormed upstairs, I remember telling him I didn't care about him, the next morning I came downstairs for breakfast & found him passed out by the table, I panicked, felt for a pulse & didn't find one, it was the scream heard around the world."

"Oh, my God."

"Anyway, I called 911 & the doctor said he had a severe stroke, died instantly."

There was another pause between the two of them as Ashley took in everything she was just told until Craig broke it.

"If I had known that would be the last time I would talk to Joey, I wouldn't have said that, I...probably would have told him the truth."

"The truth?"

"That I loved him...I did, you know...he looked out for me all these years...& you know, Albert Manning may have been my birth father, but, Joey was my dad."

"Craig..."

"He was my dad, Ash, I never told him that once, of course, I don't think he ever called me "son", so, maybe it just would have sounded dumb, I don't know."

"Craig, do you remember a few years ago when you flipped out at my dad's wedding?"

"Vividly."

"Joey came by looking for you, after my mom told him how strange you had been acting, Joey said "what is going on with my son?"."

"He called me his son?"

"He did, Craig."

Craig couldn't hold it in any more, he broke down in heart-breaking sobs. Ashley put her arms around him as he cried some more.

"He knew, Craig, he knew how much you loved him, because he loved you back all the more."

Craig started to cry so hard they both shook.

Eventually, they went back into the church & after a while, Craig & Angie went back to Spike, Snake & Emma's house. It was known that Joey had wanted to have his funeral is his old hometown & Craig & Angela were staying with them for a while & in a few days they would head back up to Calgary where Craig would start managing the car lot & looking after Angie.

That night, Craig was thinking over his everything in the last few days & what would come in coming days & weeks.

He eventually got up & went to the window & looked up at the night sky & started talking to noone in particular.

"I miss you, man. I miss you, so much. Don't worry about Angela, I'm gonna do my best at looking after her & preparing a good future for her & all of that, everything I know you would be doing. I love you, J...dad."

Craig went back to bed & lied down thinking about how their uncertain future will certainly somehow work out.


End file.
